Theatre Under the Stars' 2005-06 season in Houston will include resident-produced productions of Beauty and the Beast, 110 in the Shade and Cinderella and tours of Chicago and Dr. Dolittle.

Founder, president and CEO Frank M. Young recently announced the October 2005-June 2006 slate, presented at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.

The U.S. touring premiere of Dr. Dolittle with a score by Leslie Bricusse, will appear Jan. 17-29, 2006. Inspired by the film and children's-story character of the same name (a movie vehicle for Rex Harrison), it's a production created by Pittsburgh CLO.

A fresh resident production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast will make magic March 14-26, 2006, in a co-production with Atlanta's Theatre of the Stars. The Broadway smash based on the animated movie had its pre-Broadway test run with TUTS a decade ago.

In addition, Baayork Lee is in discussions to helm a TUTS revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Dec. 6-18), using the same contemporary tone that New York City Opera recently offered.

Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones' 110 in the Shade, the Midwest-set musical based on The Rainmaker, get a TUTS-created production May 9-21, 2006. The theatrical extravaganza, We Will Rock You, borrowing songs from the catalog of the rock group Queen, was originally announced by TUTS to play the Hobby Center May 24-June 11, 2006, but plans for the tour have not solidified and the show isn't expected in Houston this coming season.

The London rock musical (with book by Ben Elton) begat a North American sitdown in Las Vegas in 2004. The show's story tells of a futuristic world where rock music has been banned.

The TUTS season also includes a visit by the touring company of Chicago Oct. 11-23.

Theatre Under The Stars, one of America's largest producers of non-profit musical theatre, was founded in 1968 by Frank M. Young. Theatre Under The Stars was the first theatrical organization in Houston to perform free to the public at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, and has since performed there each summer, giving Houston 46 musicals such as South Pacific and The Who's Tommy.

Since its founding, TUTS has produced more than 275 major musicals including many local, national and world premieres and is currently represented on Broadway with Beauty and the Beast.

Now housed in the new Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, TUTS also annually presents the Tommy Tune Awards, honoring "the best and brightest in Houston’s high school musical theatre programs."